2 in 5 enrolled schoolchildren never learn to read or Write.

58 MILLION CHILDREN HAVE NO ACCESS TO primary education.

Only 1% of refugees attend university, compared to the global average of 34%.

The Challenge

There are 58 million children worldwide who do not have access to school, and millions more who do not receive a meaningful education. Even after years of formal schooling, 250 million children never learn to read, write, or perform basic arithmetic.

Students around the world are being abruptly cut off from educational opportunities by war, persecution, and violence. For hundreds of thousands of refugees, the statistics are alarming. Only half of refugee children have access to primary education, as opposed to the global average of 90 per cent. Sadly, this enrollment gap only grows with age: 22 percent of refugees are enrolled in secondary schools, compared to a global average of 84 percent, and an alarming one per cent of refugees attend university, compared to the global average of 34 per cent.

Our Response

A meaningful education provides children and their families with opportunities for the future, and perhaps most critically, hope. The Catalyst Foundation for Universal Education is committed to increasing access to high-quality education worldwide.

The Catalyst Foundation promotes efforts to educate every child in the world. Our agenda runs from supporting creative pilot projects in global education, particularly in zones of conflict, to tirelessly advocating for the cause around the world. We work closely with our partners in the philanthropic community, the private sector, international organizations, and governments. By providing seed funding to catalyze innovative education projects, and with a focus on seeing actual results, Catalyst hopes to be a powerful force for good in the world.